


Yelling Into The Void

by UAs_Fics



Series: One-shots for Creek--Week 2018 [2]
Category: South Park
Genre: Creek Week 2018, Dieselpunk, M/M, One-Shot, Sci-Fi, cattlepunk, this is a genre mess tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 14:11:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16389200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UAs_Fics/pseuds/UAs_Fics
Summary: Craig always stares at the night sky with a forlorn look on his face that Tweek can't understand.





	Yelling Into The Void

**Author's Note:**

> For Creek-Week, Alien / Android Day  
> [I made up some character designs as well, if anyone wants to take a look.](https://uas-art.tumblr.com/post/179357956787/i-went-way-overboard-with-creek-weeks)

* * *

* * *

"What the fuck?"

Craig groaned in frustration at the sight before him. Kyle had Kenny's robotic arm in his hands. Bebe had his leg. Karen had a bucket of screws, bits of metal, and most of Kenny's hand. 

Kenny himself sat in a wheelbarrow, chuckling nervously. 

"Bounty gone wrong." He explained shrugging his remaining arm. 

"He tried to jump on the girl's horse," Kyle elaborated farther. 

Craig sighed. "Fine, drop him on the counter. Let me get my tools." He turned and walked past the counter and through the door to the back of the clinic. Bebe and Kyle carefully helped Kenny onto the waiting room bench, tipping the wheelbarrow over as they did so. Karen gasped and reached out to grab it, but as she did, she dropped the bucket. Pieces of Kenny's limbs scattered across the floor.

"Shit!" She swore, stooping down to her knees.

"Karen, language!" Kenny reprimanded.

As she grabbed for her older brother's hand, another hand beat her to it. Tweek dropped the hand into the bucket with a smile.

"I thought I heard all of you come in." Tweek nodded to the bounty hunters before he continued helping Karen pick up the scattered pieces.

"Hey, Tweek," Bebe greeted. "Yeah, it didn't go quite as planned." 

"We still caught her," Kyle interjected. "Kenny just fell apart is all." 

Tweek frowned at Kenny on the bench. He waved and smiled at him as if half of his limbs weren't missing from his body. Tweek just shook his head.

Kenny fell apart more often than anyone Tweek knew. Craig had been trying to convince Kenny to get out of the bounty game and find other employment for years, but he always refused. He liked the adrenaline of it, and how well it paid. 

Tweek couldn't really hold that against him, though. Before his accident, Tweek ran around with some pretty nasty people because the money was good. Unlike Kenny though, Tweek didn't have people to support or who were waiting for him to come home every night.

He pushed the memories aside as he hoisted himself up before holding his hand out to help Karen.

She set the bucket on the counter next to Kenny's arm and leg then took a seat next to her brother. He smiled at her before patting her on the shoulder with his remaining arm, the only completely flesh limb Kenny had anymore. 

"Did you tell Butters yet, or are you just going to not mention it like usual?" Tweek asked, hopping to sit on the counter.

Kenny blushed and looked away. "He already knows this time. I'm going to get an earful when I get home."

Kenny's sort of boyfriend, Butters, approved less of Kenny's bounty hunting than anyone else. Even Karen didn't give him as hard of a time as Butters did. Tweek had seen him scold Kenny like a small child more than once when he found out he'd fallen apart on one of his hunts. 

_"I already lost one family, and, gosh darn, I ain't gonna lose a big part of this one, too, Kenny!_ " He'd say.

Tweek didn't quite understand what he meant, and even when he found time to asked him, Butters danced around the question without ever answering it. Kenny had asked him not to try to dig into Butters’ past not long after. 

" _He has some things and people he'd rather not think about_ ," Kenny had explained. Tweek knew all too well about wanting to forget the past, so he left the topic alone from then on.

Craig walked back into the waiting room, a box of tools in hand. He set the box on the counter before picking up Kenny's arm. He turned it over, examining where it had come off from his shoulder. The doctor shook his head before heading towards the bench to take a look at his shoulder. 

Tweek glanced over Craig. He might not have all of Craig's years of experience, but he could tell what had happened with ease. The rotating ball joint cover at the shoulder fell off. Without the cover, the ball joint rolled right out, taking the wires that connected the robotics to the muscles with it. It had to have been a painful, sudden ripping feeling. Tweek nearly shuddered at the thought.

Kenny's arm was an older model, and one of Craig's first attempts at replacing limbs, so it the shoulder attachment was not nearly as sturdy as his legs. It really shouldn't come to anyone's surprise that it falls off as often as it does.

"One of these days, I'm going to do to you the same thing I do to Tweek," Craig grumbled.

"Sounds kinky." Kenny teased, earning a sharp glare.

"I'm going to make you learn to fix yourself. This is getting ridiculous." He threatened then held out his hand. "Tweek, you know the drill."

Tweek nodded, fishing out the tools Craig needed to reattach the arm to the shoulder socket.

Bebe chuckled. "That's hardly fair, Craig. Tweek still has three-fifths of his limbs. It's easy for him to fix himself." 

Tweek suddenly felt very aware of the metal attached at his knee. He shook the feeling off before handing the tools to Craig.

"Doesn't matter." Craig tightened a screw. "This is a pain in the ass."

"Well, until the angels return and bring peace and whatnot, people like us have to do what we can to protect everyone, and sometimes that means putting ourselves in harm's way." Kyle nodded curtly, some of his red curls falling into his face.

"'Angels'?" Karen echoed.

Tweek raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't you know the story of the angels, Karen?"

"Of course she does. Mom use to tell it all the time before she died--ouch!" Kenny winced as Craig shoved part of the arm back into place.

"I don't really remember it that well," Karen admitted shyly.

Bebe pulled her hair out of its ponytail as she spoke. "You know how the Earth use to be green and full of life?" She began to pull bits of grass from her curls.

"Yeah." Karen nodded.

"Well, when everything started to die and become like it is now, some of the people were blessed to be angels." Bebe continued. "They grew wings and flew into the night sky to search for a new home for everyone and one day, they'll return and take us all to a land of plenty." 

Kyle frowned. "Yeah, that's the story I know, mostly, but my family tells it that the angels will come back and bring life to the world again. We'll see their insignia and know they're coming back."

Tweek took a tool from Craig before handing him a wrench. "Do you know what the insignia looks like, at least?" He asked.

This time both Karen and Kenny shook their heads.

"Mom never said anything about that," Kenny said. "But Mom flip-flopped on the specifics of the stories a lot too."

Tweek looked around before scooting over to the wheelbarrow. In the dirt caked to the side, he drew a circle with a smaller circle inside. Between the two he made lines curving half way up on either side and from the line drew bumps going out on either side. Finally, he added a plus sign above it.

"The insignia of angels." Tweek presented. "When we see it again, the angels will come back."

Craig snorted. "Horse shit. Angels aren't real, and people can't grow wings. Bucket." He pointed.

"Way to rain on people's parade, Craig." Kyle crossed his arms. "We don't exactly have much too look forward to, so let us believe this. It's not hurting anyone to think there might be a better future." 

Craig didn't reply. Instead, he rolled his eyes before he began to piece Kenny's hand and wrist back together. 

Tweek set a hand on his shoulder and squeezed before placing a kiss on his temple. It didn't bother him if Craig didn't believe in the angels' return. Tweek himself wasn't sure how much he believed of it either.

"Yeah, yeah," Craig muttered as he expertly reassembled the rest of Kenny's arm. He turned towards the others in the room. "I just think you can't wait for someone to come and fix everything. It's best to do what you can yourself." To Kenny specifically, he added, "Wiggle your fingers, if you can."

The four remaining digits on Kenny's hand moved around. Craig nodded then asked for Tweek to hand him Kenny's leg.

"What do you think we're doing?" Bebe asked. "Cleaning up crime and keeping people safe is how we try to fix things."

"Sounds about as true as your 'super handsome' and _totally real_ boyfriend," Kenny teased. "Everyone knows we’re all in this for the money. Cleaning up crime is a bonus."

Bebe's face went red. "I told you my boyfriend is real. He's handsome and sweet and well-spoken. He's just not comfortable with meeting any of you hooligans yet!" 

"Uh-huh." Her bounty hunting partners replied in unison. Tweek smiled to himself as he watched the conversation devolve into teasing and mockery. 

The only one in the room to have ever met Bebe's supposed boyfriend, besides Bebe, was Craig. Tweek tried to get information out of him about it once, but Craig shrugged and said he didn't understand Bebe's taste and left it at that.

The teasing soon gave way to normal conversations as Craig finished up reattaching Kenny's leg. The leg was a newer model and hadn't taken nearly as much damage as the arm, so it was a much quicker fix. When he finished, he slapped his leg, making sure to hit the fleshy part.

"Done." Craig pushed himself up. "Be thankful it was an easy fix."

Kenny jumped up, hopping from side to side. "Thanks, doc. Good as new." He paused looking at his missing ring finger. "Or good enough anyway."

"If you find your finger, you're on your own," Craig stated flatly. "Now, all of you get lost. I'll be adding this to your tab."

"Some cousin you are." Kenny rolled his eyes. "Shooing out your own flesh and blood."

"A cousin of a cousin of a cousin is barely related at all. Get lost." Craig jabbed his screwdriver at him. Kenny just chuckled at the threat.

The bounty hunters and Karen each thanked Craig in turn. Kenny snatched Karen around the middle and dropped her into the wheelbarrow. Kyle grabbed the handles with a smirk and rolled her out with Kenny holding the door for then. Bebe rolled her eyes before picking up the empty bucket and followed after.

"Sometimes I forget you two are related. You don't look much alike." Tweek took the toolbox from him. He let his fingers linger against Craig's hand for a few seconds longer than necessary in an attempt to calm his husband's annoyance.

"Distantly. Very, _very_ distantly." Craig rubbed his temples when the door finally shut. He didn't regret taking over as the area's doctor, but he did find it annoying to have to keep fixing up the same people for the same issues over and over again. 

This was the fifth time in as many weeks he has had to reattach Kenny's arm. He's had to pry bullets out of Bebe and Kyle at least three times each. Not to mention all the bones he's had to set, wounds he's had to close, and the body parts he's had to replace for the rest of the town. 

It was tiring work. 

He glanced at Tweek as he sat next to him. His husband flashed a smile before pulling him into a half hug.

Craig smiled back and leaned into his embrace. At least he had a wonderful assistant to help him through all of this.

* * *

Whenever the season got too hot, they would drag the bed close to the balcony. The only air conditioner unit in the clinic, a noisy old machine that someone donated many years ago, stayed in the window of the office downstairs. It would be a hassle to try and move it every night, so instead the bed got moved to the open door, close enough to see out, but still far enough to give the men their privacy. That's where Tweek found Craig, sitting on the bed, staring out into the night sky. The moon bathed him in silver light.

Tweek paused in the doorway, observing him.

Craig always had this faraway look on his face when he gazed at the stars. There was something about that look that told Tweek he shouldn't ask, just like about Bebe's boyfriend or Butters’ past. The reason behind the look wasn't information he needed to know, no matter how much he wanted to.

Tweek took a breath then stole a heavy step forward with his metal leg. The resounding thud made Craig jump and spin around. 

"I brought you some...coffee." He stuck his tongue out at the last word. The drink in the cup wasn't coffee, at least, not anymore. Craig didn't drink coffee the way that tasted best, pure and black as night, instead, he only liked it with milk and cream and sugar in it. A complete waste of grounds to Tweek, but if that's how Craig liked it, that's how Tweek would make it for him.

Craig took the cup when Tweek offered. He drank some then scooted back from the edge of the bed. He patted his lap. Tweek took the invitation to crawl on the mattress and rest his head on his lap. 

Craig looked over the rim of the cup at him with a loving smile.

"What did I do to get a catch like you?" He asked.

Tweek laughed then lifted his leg. "You did amputate my leg. I couldn't really run away. Not that I’d wanted to after seeing your handsome face." 

Craig chuckled. With his free hand, he cupped his face. "Well, if _I_ let such a handsome face as this die from blood loss, it would have been an unforgivable sin." He took another drink.

Tweek nuzzled against his palm for a moment. He let out a warm breath that skimmed across his skin.

Craig absentmindedly tangled his fingers through his hair as he turned his gaze back to the sky. Tweek pursed his lips and mimicked his line of sight. 

"It's so clear out tonight," Tweek commented. "You can see every star." He raised his hand and pointed. "That one there, the reddish one? You can't always see it, but it's my favorite."

"That's not a star," Craig told him. "That's Mars, a planet."

"Oh, it is?" Tweek bit his lip. "How do you know?"

Craig opened his mouth, then shut it. A sigh escaped his lips. 

"Tweek, do you really believe in that angel story? That people flew into the sky and that they're going to come back one day?" 

Tweek blinked a few times before the question clicked. He shook his head.

"No, not the part about people growing wings, but there has to be some truth to it. It can't just be a made up story." Tweek added, more to himself than to Craig, "can it?"

Craig finished his coffee and set the empty cup on the side table. He looked down into Tweek's face for a while, enough time for Tweek to start to squirm. 

When he looked back up at the sky, he said. "Tweek, there is something I've been wanting to tell you, _show you_ , for a long time now."

Tweek bolted up, nearly hitting Craig in the chin as he did. 

"What? What's wrong?" His stomach twisted as the possibilities flooded his mind, all of them varying degrees of horrible.

Craig put his hands on Tweek's shoulders. "It's not _wrong_ , but its not...it's not exactly right, either."

"What do you mean? I really don't understand." Tweek whispered, his voice strained.

“Just let me show you.” Craig squeezed him a moment. "I'll explain there. Can we take your bike? It's too long of a walk."

* * *

Tweek pulled the sheet off of his bike. A layer of dust flew up. The particles danced in the lamplight as he tossed the sheet to the side. He stuck the key in and turned it, checking the gas gage. 

"How far is it?" Tweek asked, trying to keep his voice steady. He wanted Craig to just tell him what was going on, but Craig refused and kept saying Tweek would have to see to understand.

"About to Kenny's," Craig told him. Tweek flicked the gage with his finger and squinted. There was enough to get them there and back; which was good, seeing as he didn't have any more gasoline around. 

While the plains of grass might not have been as nutrient-packed as those more to the north, it was plentiful. So, unlike farther down the country, it was cheaper to feed and care for a horse than own a vehicle that required fuel.

Tweek walked the motorcycle forward out of the stable behind the clinic. The horse that shared the stable with the bike whinnied. The mare, Stripe, was old and slow, and Craig babied her more than Tweek thought was necessary.

That was probably why Craig wanted to take his bike. It was faster and could handle two people.

Tweek kicked the bike to life. A subtle rumbled filled the area. He scooted forward, enough for Craig to climb behind him. Craig handed Tweek one of the helmets he held. Tweek put it on before pulling the goggles affixed to it down over his eyes. Once they were both protected, Craig wrapped his arms around Tweek's waist. 

"Hold on tight," Tweek warned before surging the bike forward and out the back alleyway. Dust flew up behind them, the only indication they had passed by at all. 

Tweek's bike was quiet, just how he liked it. 

In the old days, when Tweek ran with a bad crowd, it had been his job to tail the caravans, staying close enough to make them nervous, but not close enough to be seen quite as a true threat. With the mark's attention on him, it was easy pickings for the rest of his crew to ambush from the sides and front. If not for the accident, he would probably still be doing that same job.

Tweek stayed on the well-worn dirt road heading outside of town, passing houses and farmsteads and wide expanses of grassy fields. A few cattle dozing by the fence jolted awake as Tweek's headlight passed over them when he took the turn off the main road. 

Kenny, Karen, and Butters lived on the old McCormick farmstead. The farmstead used to be very profitable, but then it fell into disrepair after a couple of generations of bad management. Though, with Butters' business skills, the farmstead was slowly coming back to life.

"Turn here," Craig muttered into Tweek's ear. Tweek raised an eyebrow but took the turn from the McCormick's road down a grassy path without a question. 

They drove down until they hit the few orchards near the train tracks that divided the McCormick and Broflovski lands. Craig told him to stop near a small grove of trees.

They hopped off. Tweek tucked his bike away into the weeds, more out of habit than any fear of theft. Craig tossed him his helmet so Tweek could hang them both from the handlebars.

"Follow me," Craig gestured to the trees.

The grass and weeds grew tall, a few loose blades tangling into the framework of Tweek's ankle. The branches overhead had knotted together, blocking the moon from view.

While there weren't that many trees, there were enough that it seemed a waste they weren't being tended to. Tweek had to wonder why Butters and Karen didn't ride out to fix that. They wouldn't have enough fruit to sell, but, at the very least, they could make enough preserves and fruit leather to make it through winter.

Tweek grabbed hold of Craig's arm. "Is it alright for us to be here?" He asked. "Does Kenny care?"

"With how much Kenny owes me, he couldn't care even if he wanted to," Craig replied. "Come on. We're here." He gestured forward.

In front of them rose an odd vegetation-covered rock, twice his size, or Tweek thought it was a rock, at least. Something about the shape didn't seem natural. It was too even and circular. The vines and bushes looked as though they had been trained up the rock in an even layer of green, instead of naturally crawling up it themselves.

"What is that?" Tweek asked, circling a few steps around it wearily. He wished he'd brought a weapon with him. He might be dangerous with his fists alone, but having a gun or knife would have calmed his nerves quite a bit. 

Craig strode right up to the rock and stuck his hands through the vines to the hard surface under them. He ran his hands along it before he paused.

"Tweek," He said slowly, choosing his words carefully, "you are smart and very clever, and you were right."

"Right about what?" Tweek stepped closer.

"About the angel's story. People didn't grow wings and fly away. That's impossible, but the story is based on history and fact." He then pulled back the vines.

It wasn't a rock under them, but a sheet of metal. Relieved on this metal was a symbol, a circle, with another circle inside it and bumps on one side of a line curving halfway upwards on either side with a starburst shape above it.

"The Angels' insignia..." Tweek's mouth fell open. "What, I don't...what's going on? What is this thing?"

"This thing is mine," Craig told him. "It's a ship. My ancestors are what the people on Earth mythicized into 'the angels.'" He pursed his lips, waiting for Tweek to process this information. 

He watched the gears work in Tweek's head, as he had done so many times before in their relationship.

After a few heartbeats, he croaked, "You're an angel?"

"No, well, yes. It's more complicated than that." Craig held his hand out. Tweek grabbed it. He was shaking, and a nervous sweat rolled down his face.

"Look, Tweek, generations ago, people realized the Earth couldn't support them anymore. They had killed the planet, taken resources and destroyed the atmosphere." He rubbed a circle into Tweek's hand as he spoke. "Without the Ozone layer to protect them from the sun, they were burning. They were dying, so they ran as far from the planet they fucked up as they could."

Tweek's mouth gaped a moment before he blurted out "What?!" He tore his hand from Craig's and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. "That doesn't make any sense Craig! None of this makes sense! If they all left, how am I here? I know I was born on Earth--or was I? Wait, are they sending people back as babies or something? Are my memories of my childhood fake? Oh, God!"

Craig pried Tweek's hands off him before he gently pushed him to the ground to sit. If he was being honest, Tweek busting out conspiracy theories was still taking it better than Craig thought this would go. At least, he didn't run away or claim Craig was lying.

He sat beside him, hand resting on his leg until Tweek sputtered out. 

"Done?" He asked.

"No, but you can go on," Tweek told him, reaching up to press his fingertips against the metal.

"The reason you're here is that not everyone left. Not everyone could, or even wanted to. Most simply didn't have the money to leave. Only the rich and 'important' could go." Craig explained. "The rest stayed to tough it out."

"How did they leave? Did they use things like this?" Tweek dragged his fingers down the cool metal. 

He nodded. "Yeah, but they were way bigger. They shot them into space. Originally the plan was to look for a new Earth outside our solar system, but they underestimated how many resources that would take.

"So, instead, they made a new colony, floating along in the Asteroid Belt. It's not the new Earth they hoped for, but it was still better than the Earth they left behind." Craig paused, making sure Tweek was following along. 

"So, why are you here then, if that new colony was better?" Tweek asked. His hands fell to his lap then began to nervously knit together. Craig hated doing this to him, but if he didn't show him, there would be no way Tweek would completely believe him, and that thought caused an ache in his chest. Tweek, his one and only, had to believe him about this.

"I’ll show you." Craig stood. He held out his hand to pull him to his feet. Tweek eyed it for a moment before setting his hand in his palm and allowed himself to be pulled back up from the ground. Craig walked along the side of the ship, feeling the metal under the vegetation, with Tweek following in tow. Craig couldn't say how thankful he was to have Tweek's hand in his, keeping him grounded. He might have hidden it on the outside, but inside he felt like crying as the memories began to bubble back to the surface: memories of his family and friends and old life, millions of miles away.

He stopped a moment then pushed a metal plate up to reveal a keypad. His fingers danced across the numbers in a well-trained fashion. The ground shook as a door opened in the side of the ship. 

Tweek eyed it critically before Craig put his hand on his lower back and led him inside. Craig touched the wall, and a brilliant light illuminated the cockpit. 

Tweek blinked hard before staring up at the lights. He had never seen ones like those before. They looked like the electrical lights, same as on his bike, but these were different. They didn't cast a sickly yellow overall they touched. Instead, the light looked almost natural, just like the sun itself.

"Yeah," Craig patted his back, "I'm surprised they all still work, too. The vines covered the solar panels a while ago." He let his hand slip off Tweek's back, leaving an uncomfortable coldness behind on his husband. 

The cockpit was small, with only a seat and a control panel filled with dials and buttons and screens. Craig turned the chair around and sat before reaching inside one of the side pockets. 

Whatever he pulled out, he set it in his lap and stared down at it. Tweek stepped closer, venturing to look down at it.

It was a photograph, crisper and clearer than any Tweek had ever seen, of people that he did not know, all except for one. In the middle of it all stood Craig, years younger than he was now, in a strange uniform, a wide smile across his face. Craig rubbed his thumb over the photograph before holding it up to Tweek for a better view. Looking at it straight on, Tweek could take in the background of the photo. A rocky landscape stretched out through a large window. The sky stood cold and black with pinpricks of stars.

"The colony is nice, but it's still not Earth. It's not where humans belong. My mission was to see if Earth was possibly still habitable." He explained with a sigh. "To see if the air was breathable and if plant and animal life could still survive. Take some soil samples. Record the behaviour and culture of the human beings that lived there, if any at all. That's what we came here for."

"Are these your...crewmates?" Tweek asked, handing the photo back. 

Craig nodded. "Yes." He placed his hand over the photo. "We hadn't calculated the change in solar activity as well as we should, nor the change in the Earth's magnetic field. Our ship's power shut down. We all hustled to these escape pods

"I landed here, and Kenny saved my ass and took me in. He helped me get an apprenticeship under the old town doctor using this bull shit story that I was a cousin of a cousin of a cousin."

He shut his eyes. His breath grew ragged. Tweek could only imagine the memories flashing through his head. He put his hand on the chair arm and spun Craig back around before placing his hands on either side of Craig's face. 

He rested his forehead on Craig's. 

"That sounds horrible. You must feel very lonely." He whispered.

Craig blinked hard, trying to hold back tears. "Yes." He whispered back in an even softer tone. "It was lonely. Earth is so different than the colony. I had to relearn so much, and I hated it, but, that was then." He set his hand on top of one of Tweek's. "Things are different now."

"It still must hurt though, knowing you're the only person like you on Earth." 

Craig laughed a little. "Actually, I'm not. There was one other escape pod to make it, that I know of, and when the colony heard our ship's final distress signal, they sent another mission to save us, and he ended up crashing as well."

"So, there are two more angels--urk, I mean, um...aliens? No, uhh, p-people like you?" Tweek stammered, suddenly realizing that yes, technically, Craig was both those things, an angel and an alien.

"Butters. He's the one who was sent to collect us. His ship landed in the badlands just outside the McCormick land, and couldn't be saved like mine." Craig explained. 

"B-Butters?" Tweek gasped, falling back to his bottom. "That...that actually explains a lot, I think."

Craig smirked. "Are you saying people from space are strange, Tweek? Do you think I'm weird? That's pretty bias of you."

"Yes, but I think your weird because you name every animal you come across 'Stripe'. It has nothing to do with space." Tweek teased. 

"'Stripe' is the best name for an animal. It's a fact; get over it." 

The joking between them broke some of the tension that had built up.

Tweek twiddled his thumbs. "And, who's the other one? Your crewmate? Do I know them?"

"You know _of_ them," Craig said. "It's Bebe's boy toy." He held out the photo then tapped the man standing next to him. "Clyde. His pod got put in stasis and--"

"'Stasis'?"

"It's like a long nap."

"You mean a coma?"

Craig shrugged. "Sure, yeah, like a space coma. Either way, he crashed down after I did. He's having a harder time adjusting. Though, I'm sure Bebe's bounty hunting stories aren't helping paint a good impression of ‘kind and non threatening’ folk."

"Huh."

They lapsed into silence then for a few moments. Tweek took the time to look around the cockpit, eying the dials and buttons. He stared at his reflection on the dusty screens.

"Do you miss your family?" He asked without really thinking about it. 

A blushed crept up his face the moment he realized what he asked. "Shit, I mean, yeah, you have to, right? They're family. Or, if they were a bad family, you have to miss your friends, don't you? Did you have a boyfriend up there? I mean--shit! You don't need to answer that last one! Sorry!"

Craig fixed Tweek with an amused look.

"I miss my family and friends, yes. I didn't have a boyfriend up there, no." He spun the chair around and waved to the control panels. "When I first crashed, I tried every night to get a signal out to the colony, but I never got a reply. I doubt the message even left the atmosphere."

Tweek walked over on his knees to squeeze himself in the small area beside the chair and the wall. 

"Do you want to try it again?" 

"What?" Craig frowned. 

Tweek tapped against the control panel. "Sending out a message. The sky is clear, maybe it'll make it."

"It won't." He shook his head. "Sending a message out all the way to the Asteroid Belt from here is a waste of time. It's just yelling into the void."

"But what if it's not?" Tweek put a comforting hand on his forearm. "L-Let's try it."

Craig looked at Tweek, then at the photo, then at the panel. He took a breath, held it, then slowly let it out.

"It won't work," He repeated, “but, we can try." 

With that, Craig reached to open a hatch under the control panel. He pulled out a clunky, dusty headset. A spiraling wire attached the headset to the control panel through the hatch. 

Craig blew some of the dust off before placing it on his head. He took a breath then began to press buttons and turn dials. 

The largest most screen flickered to life, the inside of the cockpit reflected in its surface. Craig rotated a dial beside the screen until the picture became clear.

He looked back at Tweek. Tweek forced an encouraging smile. 

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Craig leaned over and pressed the button to begin the communications. 

 

"This is Craig Tucker." He paused, hoping Tweek wasn't upset he didn't use their combined last name. "Craig Tucker, of the Terra Firma Recolonization Project, serial number S01009."

For a moment, Craig wasn't sure what to say next. The last time he'd tried to call out, he wanted to be rescued and taken home to space, but now, he couldn't ever see himself leaving. He couldn't leave the town or his friends. He most certainly couldn't leave Tweek. 

He collected himself before slowly continuing. 

"I'm calling to report the status of our mission. The mission has been...a mixed success. The magnetic field around Earth wasn't what we expected and our ship lost power. The same has happened with the Stotch mission sent to retrieve us, though Butters' --Leopold's-- ship is a complete loss. We have no way to return." 

His voice cracked. He coughed into his shoulder then went on.

"However, I can confirm that Earth is habitable. Much of the land is dry with little rain most of the year, so the plants and animals that live here are hardy. The people as well." He turned a smiled softly at Tweek. Tweek smiled back, knitting their hands together just off-screen.

"Humanity survived, as it always tends to. It's a harsh world, but many of those I have met have been kind and welcomed me. In fact..." 

An impish glint appeared in his eyes. This message, he realized, wasn't ever going to make it anywhere. He could say whatever he wished.

In one fluid moment, he grabbed Tweek by the armpits and pulled him into his lap, his back awkwardly teetering on the armrest and his arm tangled in the wire of the headset.

"I even found myself a husband. That's what they call a male life partner here." He pressed a kiss to Tweek's forehead.

"Ack!" Tweek watched his face in the screen blush pink. "Craig, the fuck are you doing? Let me up! You're embarrassing me! I don't want this to be your family's first impression of me!"

"No one is going to see this, Tweek," Craig told him matter-of-factly. "Even if this did by some blessing make it back to the colony, I think I _want_ everyone to know about you, my smart, handsome, talented, amazing husband."

Tweek's face went completely red, all the way to his hairline, and he gently punched Craig's shoulder as best he could, causing a goofy grin to spread across Craig's face. Tweek hauled himself fully into Craig's lap and twisted his arm from,the wire before letting his legs dangle over the armrest.

He gently grabbed the mike and said, louder than necessary, "Um, h-hello? Craig's, uh, family? Friends? Hello, I'm Tweek Tucker-Tweak. My family's name and first name is pronounced 'Tweak'. I'm not saying my first name twice, if your wondering!"

Tweek scrunched up his face in thought a second then went on, "I'm his husband. We were married last spring. It was a nice wedding. Craig looked amazing when he was all dressed up and wrote the most heart touching vows. I wish you could have been there. Uh...I promise I'm taking good care of him here on Earth. I love him very much, and, err, I think you, that is, his parents, did a really good job!"

He sent a questioning look up at Craig. He sounded silly, but this was the closest he'd ever get to actually meeting Craig's parents. He wanted them to know that their son was in good hands, even if they never got to see the message.

Craig chuckled, squeezing Tweek to his chest. "What? not going to say anything to my sister?"

Tweek furrowed his brows. "The one you call a 'gremlin'?"

"Now I really hope this is going into the void." Craig winced. "Trisha would be pissed if she knew I still called her that."

Tweek flinched and reached for the mike again, but Craig put his hand on his, gently shoving it down with a shake of the head.

He fixed his gaze forward then took a breath. "Earth, I think, could be returned to its former glory if the technology from the colony and the wisdom of its current inhabitants were combined." 

He sighed contently. "This is Craig Tucker-Tweak, serial number s01009, knowing full well we just spent five minutes talking to nothingness, signing out." 

He spun the dial and pressed some buttons. The screen went dark. Craig removed the headset, shaking out his hair. Careful of Tweek, he slipped it back under the hatch and shut it. He leaned back, causing Tweek to roll against him.

"Craig?" Tweek tentatively asked. “Did it work? Can you tell?”

“If it did, which I'm sure it didn't, they'll send a message back in due time, and this,” he pointed to a bulb next to a screen, “will be flashing.” 

“We'll have to come back then and see what they say.” Tweek grinned up at him reassuringly. Craig remained unconvinced, but didn't argue with Tweek's optimism.

"Let's go. We should get back in time to get a little bit of shuteye before we have to open the clinic." Craig spun the chair around. Tweek quickly pulled his legs in to avoid hitting them on the walls. He rolled to his feet then offered Craig a hand.

On the walk back through the tangle of trees and weeds, they remained silent. Craig held Tweek's hand in a tight, but warm, grip. When they exited, Tweek went to his bike, brushing off the grass and leaves. 

The cool night air blew against them as Tweek drove them home. The moon shone brightly in the middle of the sky. He smiled softly as he squeezed Tweek tighter to himself, enjoying his warmth against his front. Tweek leaned back against him as best he could. 

He felt lighter somehow. They both did. Craig trusted him enough to put Tweek’s view of him at risk and found his trust well placed. Tweek didn’t think he was a strange or dangerous alien from space or mad at him for keeping it a secret. He was more worried about what _his family_ might think of him. 

Laughter bubbled up from him. Tweek turned back enough to glance quizzically at Craig for a moment before he had to take his attention back to the road.

“Tweek, I love you.” He told him as Tweek began to slow down when they entered the town, but he wasn’t sure Tweek heard him. It didn’t matter; Tweek already knew.

Tweek pulled them into the back of the clinic and then rolled to a stop. He got as close to the stables as he could without spooking Stripe before turning off the engine.

"I'll put it back properly in the morning," Tweek said around a yawn. 

"Mmm," Craig hummed, hopping off the bike. He took off his helmet before carefully fumbling forward into the stable. He hung the helmet on a post then felt around for the oil lamp. 

He lit it and walked back outside. Tweek set his helmet in the seat. He shook out his already messy hair. The dust left a clean, goggle-shaped outline over his eyes. 

When the light from the lamp hit him, he blinked a few times to adjust his eyes. While Craig paused to wait for him, Craig lifted his gaze to the sky again.

Tweek watched him with pursed lips. He understood now. One of the stars the dotted the sky was home for Craig, where he was born, raised, and educated. It must be mocking to see it every night, but know he could never be there.

Tweek walked over and took Craig's hand, giving him a reassuring squeeze.

Craig blinked out of his thoughts and turned to look at him. He smiled thoughtfully after a moment before placing a kiss to the top of his head.

"If that message did somehow get out and they sent someone here, you know what the first wonder of Earth I'd show them would be?" Craig asked.

Tweek shook his head. "No. What?"

He pressed their sides together, snaking his hand around his waist with a grin.

"You."

Tweek rolled his eyes as he put his own arm around Craig's back. "Ok, let’s get back inside. You’re extra corny when you’re tired.”

* * *

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> I can't world build for a long work to save my life, but for a one-shot...? Heck yeah, I'm a worldbuilding machine!  
> [My writing tumblr](https://uas-fics.Tumblr.com)


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